Numerical Evaluation of Marine Riser Dynamics

A three year grant from PRAC, NSERC and NRC as well as in-kind support from Oceanic, the Institute for Ocean Technology (IOT) and Chevron Texaco, was awarded to Dr. Neil Bose in 2004. Research for this project is focusing on vortex induced vibration response for deepwater risers, an important area for research for the oil and gas industry. This project involves high mode vibration tests on an instrumental riser in uniform flow and in sheared flow; particle image velocimetry of wakes behind large riser models; pushing the bounds of Computational Fluid Dynamics behind a moving cylinder; numerical prediction of riser vibration in the time domain; and fatigue work. Dr. Bose and his team will develop model tests on instrumented risers at IOT, scale tests in the natural test site at Bonne Bay, numerical simulations, and both structural and hydrodynamic and fatigue studies of riser materials and design [1]. This report documents my role in this project in helping to develop the numerical prediction program created by Dr. Wayne Rama-Nair of IOT. My role was to test the program against known results to validate its ability to simulate riser dynamics. I also investigated the effect of lift coefficient on riser vibration amplitude and simulated a 3000m riser to see how the lift coefficient effected the tension and bending moment.NRC publication: Ye